Looking back on 2013

As I get ready to welcome in the new year (in a minute)…I thought I would look back at some of the stuff that happened in 2013 (I did one for 2012).

Before I do, I just wanted to say that from the bottom of my heart…thank you for reading the blurbs that I post. Thank you for commenting, tweeting, emailing and Facebooking me. Thank you for the fun conversations that we have had, and the interesting comments of love, encouragement, and in sharing in my joy/sorry/anger etc. I still get a little overwhelmed that people even both to do that…but so thankful that you do :D

Also thank you to all the lovely PR Reps, and Brands who have supported this blog. Really, without them it would be hard to sustain my blog, on my student budget. So I am grateful for the ones who have been so kind to let me dabble in some fun products, regardless of the outcome.

I hope that 2014 will be a great year for us all, and hope that it starts off wonderfully for you!

I know I missed a few things I wished I could have highlighted. I meant to update this monthly throughout the year, but kept forgetting. In any case…here is a little summary of what went on the last year :)

January:
Mom and I had a little date, to celebrate the day I was welcomed in to the world. She made me seaweed soup (Korean Tradition), and we watched Les Miserables, which is a dear favourite of mine.

I won tickets to see Safe Haven, where Josh Duhamel was in attendance. Seeing him up close made me :O. He is a gorgeous man.

February

I had the opportunity to attend the Hard Candy Spring 2013 launch. It sent my hits up the roof and made me all nervous lol

I won tickets to see Beautiful Creatures, which I really REALLY enjoyed watching.

Valentines came and went. I spent it in class lol

I saw this cool view of the clouds

March
Target started their soft openings

April:
I had a genius idea for one year from now. So far, it may be delayed a few months, but I’m still hoping to implement it. Hopefully I don’t chicken out.

Finished the semester of school…and tried to enjoy what little freedom I had left, as I was taking summer school.

May
I got to attend the Spa Clay Masque launch by Farley & Co, which ended up earning a spot as one of my favourite masques for the gal on the go.

My friend went to Korea for her brother’s wedding, and brought me back some stuff I asked her to pick up for me :D

I won a Shu Uemura giveaway…which I ended up receiving nearly 4 months later (not at the fault of the Blogger who I won it from, but from the PR that had a weird system in place). It earned a spot on my blacklist (I won’t buy it in Canada).

June

Had my first Zet’s Burger…so yummy!

I saw the Babyliss Mira-Curl on Get It Beauty, and the wanting has yet to die in me

My blog turned 6! I am thankful for the opportunities that I have had, and the wonderful people I have met.

Visited the Cherry Blossoms in High Park

I ventured in to the world of Soak Off Gels!! And I do not regret it. Love my Finger Paints LED Lamp even now, and use it as a base for my polishes all the time.

July

The infamous flooding within Toronto. Left the streets around me shut down, and flooded out of their homes. Poor people. The houses next to me had issues, but we luckily escaped it.

Magnum had a special pop up store, and I waited a long time to get my custom bar, and free polish :P

I won a giveaway by Target on Twitter. It was for an assortment of Sharpie products xD

August:
I held a small BBQ for some girl friends of mine, which allowed us to bond, and have them sort through my polish collection to try out various colours :P

Mum’s Birthday

I got to meet the bf of a close friend. Seeing as I had been waiting for awhile, I was excited :) and SUPER happy that she found such a great guy.

I ordered my first Sasa Haul. Had been hearing about it for years, so I finally jumped on buying them :D

I attended the launch of #beautyunited, a blogger program by P&G and MSL. Definitely a great time meeting new faces, seeing some familiar ones. This new opportunity was a wonderful addition to the blog as it gave me more access to some brands that I already loved, and ones that I had the opportunity to dabble in to. I wrote about it nearly two months later -___-

One of my close friends left Toronto so she could attend Teacher’s college in Ottawa for a year.

I went to Biff’s Bistro with my friend.

A friend, who I met through blogging…married her true love. It was such an honour to witness their union :)

September:
I won tickets from LOREAL to watch a Gala TIFF movie. It turned out to be Jennifer Aniston’s movie, Life of Crime.

I saw someone I hadn’t seen since high school…it was weird. We didn’t really change much. It was interesting to hear that he was just about done his PhD.

I got to attend a Chatelaine event

I got to watch Mortal Instruments thanks to Farley & Co who gave me tickets :) Godfrey Gao…enough said.

Fell in love with the Fairy Drops Volume Burst Mascara

I won rush tickets to TIFF viewing of RUSH, where the cast was in attendance, as well as Nikki Lauda. If you haven’t seen it, and don’t mind F1, than I would suggest you check it out. I really enjoyed it.

I started a new year (what better be my last year…) of university. Unfortunate it meant that I had to take 6 courses. I thank UTM for changing the schedule during the summer, forcing me to take 6.

October:

Finally got to see my dear friend who left for teacher’s college. Missed her terribly. We only had a few hours, but how I cherished it :)

Junko, the downtown location, a favourite Korean Bar of mine…shut up shop.

Had the opportunity to attend Janelle Monae’s concert, thanks to P&G and MSL (as part of their #beautyunited program).

Got my first 85% on a test. Was an interesting experience. It was also a reminded of how some classes at UTM have gotten easier…

I got to try out my first EOS products, and have since fallen for Blueberry Acai quite deeply. The balms need a bit of experimenting to find the right one for your lips, but once you do…:D

Went through a mini breakdown…as I was seriously overwhelmed with school, and had encountered an issue. Through that, I was reminded of how much love I receive from friends (both in the blogging world, and in my day to day life), and family…and how I am super thankful that you are all there for me. To encourage me. Thank you for everything that you do. Please know that if you ever need me, I will do whatever I can to be there for you too.

November:
IMATS. Enough said. lol

I won one of Dave Lackie’s infamous giveaways on Twitter :D

I made it to Sephora’s highest level. In my defence I had help getting there, thanks to a few friends. So I didn’t spend ALL that money on my own. Cause really…I would be broke lol

I got to see PINK!!! Seriously, I’ve been so thankful for the opportunities I have come across thanks to #BeautyUnited :)

Girl I know got engaged to a Guy I know. I love the match up

Tried to recreate a Hunger Games look from Covergirl

Went to the Shiseido Sale

Attended my first FNL at the ROM

Good guy friend of mine let it spill that he was preparing to get engaged to his girlfriend. I got to help along the process. When he initially made the announcement, I may have actually squealed in delight. Embarrassing, but necessary.

During the final week of November, my FB was filled with Baby announcements, engagements, and weddings. Yup…getting older is interesting.

I attempted, and created a rather primitive media kit. Figured it was time.

December:
Got my first Influenster box

I had another mini meltdown because school was really getting to me.

Nelson Mandella passed away.

One of my good guy friends got engaged!!! Haven’t been so excited for an engagement in awhile…now just need to wait for 2 of my other close friends to get engaged…(of course this is when my mom starts hounding me about finding a guy so I can get married… -_____-)

Two blackout periods in a year? Wow. Survived three days until the power was restored. But as you all know there are many who sustained 7 days, and even apparently today there are some who still have yet to be restored :(

So…those are just some of the highlights of 2013 that I wanted to share. I guess a mini reminder to myself of what happened.

Was there anything that stood out to you in your year?